A major milestone was reached in the construction of the Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST), a compact fusion experiment device in Hefei, Anhui Province, with the successful installation of its first key component: the Dewar base. A placement and assembly ceremony was held on October 1st in Hefei to mark the achievement.
The BEST project, led by the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aims to achieve the world' s first electricity generation from fusion power. Unlike previous fusion experimental devices, BEST is designed to demonstrate the actual burning of deuterium–tritium plasma.
The Dewar, a critical component of BEST, acts as a giant high-vacuum thermos flask. It provides insulation for the superconducting magnets, which must operate at -269 degrees Celsius to confine plasma heated to over 100 million degrees Celsius.
The Dewar base, weighing over 400 tons and measuring approximately 18 meters in diameter and five meters in height, is the heaviest single component of the BEST device and the largest vacuum component ever produced in China's fusion research.
With the Dewar base now in place, assembly of other core components will proceed. The BEST device is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027.
The Dewar base was successfully positioned and assembled. (Image by ASIPP)
The Dewar base was inspected before it was seated in place. (Image by ASIPP)
The Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST), a compact fusion experiment device under construction in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, has reached a major milestone with the successful installation of its first key component, the Dewar base, marking progress toward the world's first electricity generation from fusion power.
86-10-68597521 (day)
86-10-68597289 (night)
52 Sanlihe Rd., Xicheng District,
Beijing, China (100864)
Copyright © 2002 - Chinese Academy of Sciences
